


she's in love with you, genius

by beware_of_you



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Apocalypse, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: F/F, but she means well, cordelia's a useless bisexual, its angsty are we really surprised, kinda happy ending tho, like really angsty tho, madison's kind of a dick, mallory's fixing shit again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 23:02:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19386271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beware_of_you/pseuds/beware_of_you
Summary: idk i wrote this shit in like five hours instead of working on any of my other stories. just some hardcore foxxay angst. basically cordelia wants mallory to do the seven wonders and misty doesn't want to let her go





	she's in love with you, genius

**Author's Note:**

> prolly sux sorry

Misty wasn't talking to her.

Well, that would be putting the whole situation lightly, if Cordelia was being honest with herself. Misty wouldn't even look at her, let alone acknowledge her very existence.

She doesn't know what happened, not really anyway. All she really knows that it all started a few nights ago when she was having dinner with Mallory, Zoe, Madison, Coco, Queenie and Misty when she announced that Mallory was taking the test of the Seven Wonders in a few weeks time. 

It was meant to be a celebration, the coming of a new Supreme. She had been fading for a while now, knew that this was something that happens. But other than Coco congratulating her best friend with a smile that seemed half genuine, half forced, the responses hadn't been what she expected.

Queenie and Zoe stared at the current Supreme with bewildered expressions, Mallory looked guilty and Madison had blurted out, "You  _just_  came into power a few years ago, Cordelia."

But it was Misty's reaction that stood out to her the most. The blonde had pushed her chair out from the table loudly, holding a napkin to her lips and briskly exited the room. From upstairs, everyone heard a door slam, making them all jump in their seats.

"I thought everybody would be excited for Mallory," Cordelia confided in Coco later as the two were cleaning up the table, as she was still trying to wrap her head around the reactions her announcement was met with.

Coco had been silent for a few moments as she gathered the dishes, stacking them on top of one another carefully. "We  _are_ ," she finally said, refusing to meet the Supreme's curious gaze. "I just... don't think anyone expected this so soon."

"Everyone knew I was sick," Cordelia had replied defensively. "They knew this was coming."

"Maybe," Coco had squeaked out, backpedaling quickly. "Maybe we're just not quite ready to let you go yet."

The Supreme had scowled. " _I'm_  not ready to let go, but it is what it is. I won't be like my mother and drag this out. She's taking the test and that's that." And with that, she had left Coco alone to clean the rest of the table up by herself.

Exhaustion hit her as soon as she falls onto her bed. She's so tired, in fact, it takes her a few moments to realize that Misty is missing from her usual spot of right beside her. Quickly, Cordelia sits up and looks around the room for her bedmate, stepping out into the hallway to look for the elusive witch until she comes face to face with Zoe. "Have you seen Misty?"

Zoe folds her arms across her chest, looking slightly uncomfortable. "She's... asleep," she says slowly. "In Queenie's room."

It stings a bit, Cordelia has to admit, and she does a terrible job of hiding it from the youngest member of her council. "She didn't expect this tonight is all," Zoe comforts the Supreme. "No one did."

"You knew this would happen one day," Cordelia tells her, biting her lip. "She must have known it, too."

"She did, we all did. Misty just..." Zoe sighs and bites her lip, turning her gaze away from Cordelia's. "Thought she'd have more time."

Before Cordelia can ask what the hell that even means, Zoe continues. "Why don't you try to get some sleep, give us all some time to process this. Maybe tomorrow will be better."

A few days later, the girls do try and hype Mallory up, congratulating her and trying to get her excited for the test (well, at least Zoe, Coco and Queenie do).

"You'll make a great Supreme," Zoe tries, giving the girl a squeeze on her shoulder.

"Hell yeah, she will! Especially when she'll be apprenticing under the best damn Supreme this coven has," Queenie adds in enthusiastically.

Mallory gives a sort of half smile at their praise, at Coco's half hug, but excuses herself to study a few moments later.

Cordelia watches all this on from the doorway, feeling the same sense of pride she feels from watching the young women before her teaching. It's heartwarming to her to know that they really have come into their own and grown into inspirational, powerful witches.

Madison... well, at least she's at the breakfast table.

Misty is nowhere to be seen.

"Good morning girls," Cordelia finally speaks up, walking into the kitchen and grabbing herself a cup of coffee. "Where's Misty?"

"Jesus," Madison mumbles, rolling her eyes and exiting out of the room.

"I'm going to help Mallory study," Coco quietly excuses herself, following after Madison quickly.

"She uh..." Queenie starts awkwardly, shifting at the sudden tension in the air, looking at Zoe for help. "She's still sleeping," she finally says, but the Supreme knows it's a lie from the way the girl refuses to look at her.

But Cordelia plays along with it, nodding along as she stirs some sugar in her coffee. "It's unusual for her to be sleeping so late. Is she okay?"

Zoe lets out a tiny scoff, ducking her head when Cordelia curiously glances her way, her cheeks red with embarrassment. She starts picking the poppy seeds off her bagel, refusing to make eye contact.

"No, she's not," Queenie says, folding her arms across her chest. "She's upset," she says bluntly.

"I can't help that I'm fading," Cordelia mutters tensely. "This is what has always happens."

"Girl, we  _all_  know what happens when a new Supreme rises," Queenie says. "That's not why she's upset, not fully anyway."

Cordelia looks back and forth between her longest running council members, arms folded defensively over herself. "What do you mean?"

"You know, I'm going to check on Mallory and Coco. They'll both need the book on concilium if she's going to have to master it. I know she had some troubles in the past," Zoe quickly and loudly states, picking up the napkin containing the poppyseeds and bagel and making a quick exit just like her sister witches.

Her excuse is a load of shit, but right now all Cordelia is worried about is Misty, and what everyone is saying about her. It's like everyone knows something she doesn't and she hates it, hates being left in the dark.

"What are you saying, Queenie?" Cordelia asks tiredly. "That I'm purposefully trying to hurt her?"

The accusation is so ridiculous, Queenie sputters for a few seconds, whipping her head around the kitchen incredulously. "You  _really_ don't know, do you?" she asks, almost accusingly.

"No, I'm afraid I don't," Cordelia replies shortly.

Queenie's laugh is short, disbelieving as she passes the Supreme while shaking her head.

Cordelia had gone out to the greenhouse after that.

She tried to work out there, to clear her mind off of things that went on the past 24 hours, but nothing helps blocking it out. She had tried the radio, but immediately shut it off when the first chords of  _Gold Dust Woman_  began playing out from the speakers.

Her hands shook so badly that she can't hold the sheers steady enough to crop pieces off of plants, and the vial of rosewater she attempted to pour into a beaker ends up all over the wooden table.

Frustrated, she slams her palms down on the table, barely flinching as the glass container that once held rosewater shatters into pieces that cling into her hands.

She shakily inhales, biting her lip to keep her tears at bay. Had she failed these girls by coming into power so abruptly, so suddenly only to have it ripped away from her bit by bit? Had she been selfish like Fiona? She tried not to be, but she wonders if that's why the girls are so cross with her.

Why else would they be? She can't ever remember seeing or hearing about anyone get as upset over losing a Supreme as her girls were getting over her. Surely they'd all accept it, right? Even in the short time she was the Supreme, she had ensured that these girls would be in safe, capable hands under Mallory's guidance.

Were they afraid Mallory would lead them to ruin? They couldn't; Mallory's spirit was pure, she would never fail the coven. Not in the way she's failing them now.

"Your hand's bleeding."

Cordelia sighs, digging her fingers into her palm and wincing at the sharp stings the action results in. "Thanks, Madison, I couldn't tell," she replies flatly, staring at the bulletin board in front of her.

"Don't get all pissy with me just because the swamp rat's mad at you," Madison says, her voice closer now. She sighs loudly at the sight of Cordelia's hands. "Who knew you'd still be so self destructive? Give me your hands."

"You hate blood," the Supreme reminds the movie star, who fumbles around the desk until she comes across a pair of tweezers.

"I hate stupidity more," Madison answers with a scowl. "Just give me your damn hands already."

So Cordelia turns her hands palm up for the platinum blonde to examine, trying not to give her the satisfaction of knowing how badly she's hurt. Her resolve breaks as Madison pulls the first shard of glass out of her palm, only managing to stifle a cry by biting on her lip.

Madison gives her a look of mild annoyance before plucking out another piece of glass. "You know, it'd be really selfish of you to kill yourself now," she says matter-of-factly, placing the shard of glass on the table. "If that's what you were doing."

Anger flares up in the Supreme, eyes flashing dangerously as she practically growls, "I'm not my mother. I would never leave this coven to its own devices and go away for my own selfish reasons."

"Except you've already decided to give up and hand your crown to Mallory," Madison points out, unaffected by her outburst.

"I haven't given up. It's just the way things work," Cordelia snaps, crying out when the young blonde rips out another piece of glass. "If you want to say I've been a shitty Supreme, go on and say it."

Madison shrugs. "Never said you were. You may be the best this shit-hole coven has ever had. Mallory might not make a half bad Supreme either."

"Is that why everyone's mad at me? Because they think I'm selfish?"

Madison sighs long and hard. "No, Cordy, it's not. You're the closest thing any of us had to a mother. You give two shits about us, which is more than most of us can say. The only one of us that has any kind of caring family is the calorie counter."

Cordelia pauses as she takes this all in, expression softening. "Is that why Misty is so upset with me?"

Madison actually laughs, the sound echoing throughout the greenhouse. "Boy, Queenie was right when she said you're clueless. She's in love with you, genius." As she plucks the last piece of glass out, she slams a jar of mud down on the counter. "You can put this shit on yourself."

At first, Cordelia doesn't seem to get it, glaring at Madison over the insults. As it slowly dawns on her what the young blonde says, her expression turns blank, throat constricting as she stares at the jar of mud.  _Misty's_  mud. "She's in love with me?" she asks quietly.

Madison shakes her head with a chuckle, lighting up a cigarette. "Jesus, Cords, I think you were less blind when you were  _actually_  blind. Anyone in a twenty mile radius can see that Swampy is nuts about you."

She takes a drag and exhales it away from Cordelia, shaking her head more. "Damn, you guys were roomies for three years, you never..." She pauses and raises an eyebrow as she makes a "V" shape with her fingers, flicking her tongue between it with a sick grin.

Annoyed and disgusted, Cordelia flicks her wrist and causes the blonde's cigarette to fall to the ground. "Madison, that's absolutely obscene!" she snaps, resting her forehead into her bloodied hands as her lower lip trembles.

Misty was in love with her. And she only knew about this now with only a few weeks left to live.

Madison scowls but doesn't say anything about her cigarette, just sighs heavily and picks it up. "You really didn't know?"

Cordelia shakes her head and sniffs pathetically, letting her tears fall on the table below her. How could she not have seen this coming? How could she have been so oblivious to what was now obvious signs: the late nights out on the porch, the long hours in the greenhouse, the nights in her bed, the look in Misty's eyes that she now knows was only reserved for her, the rare but loving kisses on her cheek?

And the worst part is, she realizes that she's helplessly in love with the younger blonde too. How could she not? Misty has been the one she told everything to: her secrets, her past, things she never even told Hank. She trusted Misty with her life. Cordelia everything the moment she turned to dust in her arms, everything put back together when she had walked through the door with Nan.

And she had realized this too late. How could she go to Misty now with her confession, sobbing and begging for the woman to give the Supreme her life when she could only promise so little in return?

"She hates me," she sobs into her hands. "She won't even come out of the room to look at me."

Madison looks bewildered at the mess of a woman in front of her, awkwardly patting her back. "She doesn't hate you," she tries.

"But she does!" Cordelia replies stubbornly. "She does and it's all my fault!"

"Why don't you talk to her?" Madison offers, trying not to wrinkle her nose in disgust as Cordelia looks up at her, eyes red, nose running so badly the snot has dripped to her chin and bloodied hand prints on her forehead. "Have you tried... talking to her?" Madison looks away and grabs a rag from the corner of the table, pinching it delicately and handing it off to the Supreme with a flick of her wrist.

Cordelia sniffs and uses the rag to wipe her head and face, blowing her nose into the fabric afterwards and tossing it aside.

"No one pays me enough for this shit," Madison moans quietly in disgust, setting the wretched thing on fire without looking at it.

"I haven't tried," the Supreme admits, voice congested and hoarse from her sobbing. "I'm scared."

"Why don't you try?" Madison says, her tone more gentle. "It won't hurt to try."

Cordelia sniffs a bit more and nods a bit, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess not."

Madison unscrews the lid and starts to smear the mud on the Supreme's palms, wrinkling her nose at the smell.

It causes a small smile to form at the edge of Cordelia's lips. "I thought you don't get paid enough for this?"

"You don't pay me at all," Madison points out. "I expect a two weeks vacation for being your babysitter."

"I'll make it one of my dying commands."

"Yeah, well, you're not dead yet," Madison replies flatly. "So don't act like it. You've got a coven to lead and a woman upstairs to profess your undying love to."

"Hell really did make you soft," Cordelia teases the younger witch.

"I'm not soft," Madison retorts. "Now, get out of my sight before I start up a shit storm about the cigarette you made me drop."  
                               

                                                                                                      ———

  
Cordelia stands outside Queenie's shut door, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. Her anxiety is causing her magic to act out. She's already knocked over a picture frame and a vase full of flowers in the hallway. She stares as a book falls out from the bookcase and shoots down the staircase.

Sighing long and hard, she finally clears her throat and breathes out, smoothing the front of her shirt with trembling hands, finally looking up at the door.

It swings open to reveal a slightly annoyed Queenie, who sighs as soon as she lays eyes on the Supreme. "Hey, Delia, I'm  _really_  sorry again about what happened the kitchen a few days ago, I really am, but you're sending my shit scattering all over my room."

Cordelia gulps softly, wringing her hands nervously. "I'm sorry," she says honestly, taking a few calming breaths. "It's not intentional. I just..." She plays with her fingers. "I want to talk to Misty."

"She's not here," Queenie answers with a sympathetic look. "I think she's out on the porch. You know?"

"Madison told me," Cordelia murmurs numbly, biting on her lip. "How long has she..." She stops, biting her lip.

"A long time," Queenie admits. "I think since after that night in the cemetery. I hadn't seen her look at you any other way since that night."

"Am I selfish for wanting to talk to her?"

"No, you two need to talk some shit out," Queenie assures the Supreme. "Just be easy on her, okay?"

Cordelia nods slowly, turning to leave.

"Hey, Cordelia?"

She turns her head back to face Queenie.

"Mallory's going to be a great Supreme. I meant it when I said she had a great mentor. You're leaving us in great hands," she starts. "You're nothing like Fiona. It's just going to really suck for a while around here after you're gone."

Cordelia swallows hard. "I'm sorry."

" 'S'okay. Like you said, it happens. At least you didn't try to kill her like Fiona would have. Good luck, Delia."

The Supreme just nods and continues on down the halls.

She's staring at the moon, blue shawl matching the color of her eyes wrapped around her shoulders, light protection against the cool breeze of the night. The nightgown she's wearing flows past her knees, the fabric brushing against her legs with the wind. The moon is bright enough to catch on the most prominent features of her face: her eyelashes, her eyes, her nose her lips.

Even silhouetted against the night sky, Misty Day was a vision of other worldly beauty. Breathtaking, ethereal. A piece of Heaven that Cordelia was for whatever reason blessed with. And she had all but taken her for granted.

"I always thought the lights of the city shined too bright, hid the stars," Misty murmurs quietly without turning around. "At least that's what my childhood preacher said once during a sermon. Said the city pollutes the natural beauty of nature. Never realized what he meant. Still don't— it's dark enough back here to see every star in the sky."

Cordelia just stares at her back, too afraid to move, afraid she'll do something like cry.

"Might be just cause this place is far enough from the heart of the city," Misty murmurs. "Has to be." She finally turns her head to look at Cordelia. "You gonna come out here or just keep staring?"

The Supreme wrings her fingers with a shaky exhale, finally moving to stand next to Misty, putting a considerable distance between them. Neither of them speaks for a while, the younger blonde looking back out at the sky as Cordelia wrings her fingers.

Finally, she speaks. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," Misty answers quietly. "I thought I'd get more time. Have a bit more time to get the guts to tell you anything, everything." She looks down at her rings, at the topaz stone she moves frequently (as of now, it's on her thumb). "Maddi tell you?"

Cordelia's silence seems to be all the answer she needs, because she nods slowly, turning out to the yard. "It's true. Ever since the greenhouse when we were working on that protection spell," Misty starts. "Something just... clicked that day for me. Suddenly you weren't just "Miss Cordelia" the teacher, the mentor, a friend. You were just Cordelia, someone who understood. my struggles because she had been through the same thing, someone so willing to take me in and care for me like I was a long time friend. Someone that believed in my potential." She picks at the skin at the side of her thumb.

"I couldn't help it. I fell in love fast and I fell in love hard right then and there. I just haven't had the guts to say anything and now that I do it's way too late, but it's okay."

She's whispering now, fighting to keep her voice steady even though tears are streaming down her face. "It's okay because if you hate me, well, I could deal with it. My own community, my own family set me on fire and left me to be picked apart by vermin and to rot. I can handle hate, even if it would hurt just a bit more if that hate came from you."

She winces as a string of dead skin catches and rips up her finger, picking it off with a wince. "If you accept it... well, that might be harder, but I figure I'd manage after a while. But I'll still miss you all the same."

Cordelia's own tears stain her cheeks, her arms giving herself a squeeze. "What if I reciprocate?" she asks so quietly, she scared her voice is lost to the wind.

Misty whips around to face her, expression blank. Her arms are shaking from the effort it's taking to hold herself together. A few sobs escape her lips as she violently shakes her head. "No, I won't accept that," she snaps icily. "I won't because I'll be stuck living with the "could haves" and "should haves". I rather you hate me."

The words hit Cordelia square in the chest, so hard it causes her to catch her breath. Her eyes are stinging with tears at the mistake she just made, at the door she just bust down like a careless agent. To admit that she loved Misty was selfish. What could be done about it now with her days numbered?

Misty's body is shaking violently with silent sobs as she fully faces the Supreme. "I won't accept it. Not now. I can't without hating myself for not telling you sooner." She looks around the porch, at anywhere but Cordelia. "I have to go home. I'm going home tonight; Queenie can have her room back. I don't want you or anyone to follow me. I don't want anything to do with this place. I think I'd rather be in hell."

And with the final sentence, the hardest, heaviest blow, Misty swiftly moves past Cordelia and into Queenie's room, leaving the Supreme shattered to pieces on the porch.

  
                                                                                                  ———

  
It's been weeks since Misty left to go back to her swamps. Nothing of her remains, not even a single trace of her. It's like Misty Day had disappeared from existence. Even the frog rings Cordelia had worn in her honor had disappeared, stuffed far away in her closet because she swore the silver was burning her skin.

After that night, she sat in her bed for three whole days, refusing to eat, drink or sleep. She wouldn't talk to anyone either, which only caused more concern. Zoe, who had been close with Misty too and understood at least somewhat what Cordelia was feeling, even tried coaxing her into talking with no success.

So she left the Supreme alone after that.

On the afternoon of day five, Madison stomped in her room like a bat out of hell and actually  _slapped_  her across the cheek. Cordelia had brought her hand up to her face and stared at the girl in shock.

"Listen, you need to get a fucking grip on yourself," the blonde had snarled. "We all just talked about how you were the best Supreme and you go and do this, shut us out and lock yourself away. How is that any different than what Fiona did, huh? You're abandoning us by not being here for all of us. Yeah, what Misty did fucking sucks, and we're all upset about it. But you need to get a grip and start acting like the Supreme we all know you are."

All Cordelia could respond with was a quiet, "I am not my mother."

"Then start acting like it," Madison snapped. "Because you have survived a lot worse than this and handled it better than you are now." Then she had left the room while attempting to light a cigarette in her shaking hands.

Coco stopped by a little bit later with a pint of ice cream and a more sympathetic approach. She let the Supreme cry all her feelings out and told her that the coven needed her, that Mallory needed her. And after a little "girl time" and a long needed nap, she snapped out of it. She did what all Goode women were good at; she pushed her feelings deep, deep down and forgot about them.

Mallory practiced daily with the help of everyone, including Madison, who helped the girl with her telekinesis. As the weeks went on and Cordelia got weaker, the young witch in front of her got stronger.

She couldn't have been prouder.

The night before the test, she comes in Mallory's room, sitting down at the end of the bed. "Nervous?" she asked, looked up at the young witch who was reading.

Mallory shrugged, biting her lip. "Guess so. I just... I don't want to become the Supreme if it means you die." She puts her book down, quickly adding, "I know that's what everyone is saying, but it's true. It's going to be hard without you."

"I know you got this," Cordelia murmurs, giving the girl a gentle kiss on the forehead. "I'll be okay knowing I'm leaving the coven in your hands." She pats Mallory's knee and slowly stands. "Get some sleep. Big day ahead," she adds, leaving the room before Mallory can get up and help her to bed.

When she wakes up, it's to frantic knocking on her door. She stands quickly and almost collapses into her bedside table. She steadies herself, moving as quick as she can over to the door. She swings it open to reveal a panicked Queenie and an even more panicked Zoe. "We can't find Mallory or Coco."

Despite the aching pain in her joints, their protest as she moves, she sprints into the hallway. Her nerves are spiking, eyes wild as she stares around Coco and Mallory's room.

Empty.

Madison stands at the doorway now too, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Shit, mini Supreme pulled a Fiona. I have to say, I did  _not_  see that coming!"

Zoe sharply elbows the shorter girl in the ribs and shoots her a glare before turning to Cordelia. "What do we do?"

Cordelia leans up against the doorway, pressing her palm on the wood as she tries to calm her breathing. What does she do? What does she do? What does she do?

"Give me a personal item," she demands, "Any one of theirs."

Queenie is at her side with one of Mallory's rings in a split second.

Cordelia grips the jewelry in her palm and shuts her eyes. It takes a minutes for the Sight to work, but when it does she gasps.

_There's a claw foot tub._

_There's candles._

_There's a spell-book that Cordelia had hidden away in her office under lock and key._

_Tempus infinituum._

_Coco is kneeling by the bathtub, watching the water with a nervous look._

_In the tub, just under the surface, is Mallory._

She gasps as she comes back to reality, flinging the ring carelessly back into the room as she storms to the downstairs bathroom. She bangs on it with open palms. "Coco! Coco, open the fucking door!" she demands furiously, trying the handle when the other woman doesn't answer. She yells out in frustration when the door doesn't give.

By now, Queenie, Zoe and Madison had caught up, all staring as Cordelia tries to open the door first with force, then with magic, then force again.

"Cordelia, you need to calm down," Queenie says, backing up with her palms up when the furious Supreme glares at her. "Or not."

With a final push and a little help from her telekinesis, Cordelia finally opens the door and turns on Coco, who looks up at her. "What are you doing!?"

"She said this would work," Coco defends weakly, eyes flitting to the spell-book briefly.

"Tempus infinituum is a myth!" Cordelia seethes. "She could die under the spell and there's nothing I can do to bring her back from it!"

"She did it before," Madison pipes up.

Cordelia whips around to her, eyes blazing.

Madison takes a few steps back, folding her arms across her chest. "What, did you expect someone to willingly bring my ass back? She had to earn it."

"What did she do?" Zoe asks quietly, kneeling next to Coco.

"Killed the spawn of Satan," Cordelia murmurs, shoulders slumping. She was hoping to take that part of Zoe and Queenie's lives to the grave with her, never let them find out they had suffered. But it was a discussion for another time.

She sits down on the sink, pinching the bridge of her nose as she sighs out long and hard. "The only thing we can do is wait."

"She just wanted to fix things. I didn't know she could die," Coco murmurs, tearing up a bit. Zoe rubs her shoulders soothingly.

No one's eyes move from the tub for hours it seems like, every pair of eyes watching Mallory's body float barely below the surface. If they didn't know better, they would think she's dead, with her lips turning blue and her chest still. The only indication that the girl was okay was the tiny air bubbles that would escape from her mouth and nose on occasion.

It's been around an hour since they've gathered in the bathroom when Mallory stirs. Cordelia hops off the sink while Coco and Zoe pull her head above the water, sitting the girl upright as she struggles to catch her breath.

The Supreme squeezes herself in between the two other witches on the floor and grabs at Mallory's face, shushing her as she wildly looks around, bleeding from her eyes.

Her body is shaking and she's understandably out of breath, but all Mallory does is grin at Coco. "I did it. I fixed it," she said proudly.

"Did what? Fixed what? What on earth were you thinking attempting this spell, Mallory!?" Cordelia asks hysterically, finally breaking down. "God dammit, Mallory, I thought I'd lost you!"

"It's okay, Miss Cordelia," Mallory says calmly, reassuringly. "I fixed it. I fixed it so you're okay."

"Can somebody please tell me what's going on?" Queenie asks, folding her arms across her chest. "I feel like ya'll are leaving me and Benson here out of a loop."

"I killed the spawn of Satan," Mallory explains briefly with a smile. "Papa Legba said he owed me some favors for that. At the time, I didn't know what to ask for other than Madison and Misty." She turns back to Cordelia. "So, I went back, killed the antichrist again and asked for them again, and also asked for your health, your safety. You're not dying anymore."

"You sold your soul to Papa Legba?" Zoe asks in shock, frowning in concern at the girl. "For  _Madison,_ of all people!?"

"Screw you too, Benson," Madison shoots back irritably. "I need a cigarette," she mutters as she walks out of view.

"No, I gave him the antichrist," Mallory explains patiently. "Tempus infinituum allows a person to go back to a certain point in history, and in that time, they can alter it. I just went back to a time when the antichrist had no power and killed him again."

Cordelia shakes her head slowly, gripping Mallory's shoulders. "Mallory, I don't understand, you went back for  _me_?"

"And Madison and Misty again, just to be safe," Mallory beams.

"Why would you... Why would you do that?" Cordelia stammers in confusion.

"Because you're not ready to let go. And we're not willing to let you go."

"I don't feel any different," the Supreme says quietly, looking back to Queenie for advice.

Queenie shrugs. "Papa Legba may drive a hard bargain, but he won't cheat you out of a deal. If Mallory says that's what he promised, that's what he promised."

"Maybe it takes a few days to work?" Zoe questions.

"Yeah, maybe," Cordelia murmurs, slowly standing up. She picks up the spell-book and sighs. "As for you two, I'm very disappointed you attempted to do this under my nose," she says to Mallory and Coco, who duck in shame.

"You could have been killed."

"We just wanted to keep you safe," Coco says, biting her lip. "I didn't know it could kill her."

"I'm sorry, Miss Cordelia."

"I could understand why you did it," the Supreme says, hating to admit to herself that the action had warmed her heart a little, at how much her girls cared for her. "Thank you."

She straightens up in the door frame. "The two of you are on kitchen duty for the next month, okay?"

They both reply, "okay," in unison, but they sound more relieved than anything as Cordelia walks away.

  
                                                                                                       ——— 

  
She lifts her shirt up and checks her side in the mirror, running her fingers over the smooth skin that months before was jagged and rotten. It amazes her still, when she feels her strong magic once again pulsing through her veins, feels invincible, all the marks of disease and decay vanished as if they were never there. Mallory didn't seem to be suffering any side effects either, which was even better than Cordelia could have hoped for.

She senses Madison before she's even at the door and pulls the shirt down, folding her hands together. "Madison."

"Hey, Cordy," the movie star greets back, flopping down on the Supreme's mattress. "So you finally decide Swampy Jr.'s wish wasn't a fluke?"

"I wish you would stop calling her that," Cordelia murmurs, folding her arms across her chest. "She has a name."

"You still sensitive about your swamp hick, Cords?" Madison teases and even though her comment isn't mean, it still stings the Supreme deep down.

No one had heard from Misty in months and after Cordelia's health came back, she didn't have the heart to use magic to search for her. Misty had all but demanded that they leave her alone all those months ago, and she intended to respect that wish.

"Madison, what do you want?" Cordelia asks tiredly, rubbing her temples.

"That two weeks vacation," she said with a shrug. "Coachella's coming up and I don't plan on missing it."

"Did you really come into my room uninvited so you could tell me you're seeing Ariana Grande?"

"No, I came here to tell you I'm seeing The 1975 like every basic white girl," Madison quips back. "I came to talk because you miss Misty."

Cordelia bristles at this. "I do not," she mutters stubbornly.

Madison sighs heavily and flops back on the bed. "I swear to god, Cordelia, if I hear another Stevie Nicks song in the middle of the night, I'm setting your radio on fire." When the Supreme goes to protest, the younger witch waves her off. "You're not subtle. You're miserable without her."

"Am not," Cordelia weakly protests.

"You are," Madison sighs back. "You can try to put on a brave face for most of the girls and act like everything's back to normal but it's not because you're missing something. Your other half or something cheesy and gay like that."

"Misty doesn't want anything to do with me," Cordelia reminds the platinum blonde flatly.

"That was when you were dying and stuff," Madison waves her off.

"She said she'd rather be in hell than here."

"People say stupid shit when they're in love and hurting. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, but you can't entirely blame her," Madison says, lighting up a cigarette.

"Put that out," Cordelia demands.

"Tell me, Cords, would you have done the same if the roles were reversed?" Madison wonders, ignoring the Supreme's demand.

Cordelia pauses at this, at what Madison is saying. Would she really have done the same if the roles were reversed? She tries to imagine a world where Misty is dying, where the love she had for Misty was buried deep inside of her and only came to light days before Misty would die. She tries to imagine Misty telling her back how she feels and is annoyed that Madison is right. All she can feel is anger, regret and a deep aching sadness that reaches down to her bones.

It only hits her then that most of the anger Misty had felt on that night was at herself. She was mad for not doing anything sooner, and she lashed out by denying herself the one thing she ever wanted to have.

"Thought so," Madison says smugly, cutting off Cordelia's thoughts.

"So what do I do since you're so good at giving advice?" the Supreme asks sarcastically, still pissed that Madison could figure this out so easily.

"Chill out, Frosty, it's not my fault you're easier to read than a picture book." At the resulting glare she receives, Madison continues. "Go talk to her, brainless. Go out to Hicksville and talk to her." She puts her cigarette out on the bedside table before she heads for the door. "Maybe screw her brains out while you're at it. You're so uptight, God knows you need it."  
                           

                                                                                                          ———

  
The cicadas sing their songs, almost along to Stevie on her battered old tape recorder. She tries singing along too, only managing a few words here and there as she goes from plant to plant, giving this one some extra love, cutting the dead things off this one, genuinely trying to keep her mind occupied.

She didn't want to think of anything other than her plants, how they were behaving as it neared fall. Her tomato plants were ripe with bright red fruits that she plucked off and tucked away in the little pocket she made using her shawl and tying it so it made a makeshift basket.

Her bare feet pad along the damp dirt. She takes a moment to dig her toes into the earth, watching the particles shift up and over them. It had been cold the past few days, so she had worn her boots, but today was nice enough for her to get by without them.

She's inspecting a squash bloom when she feels it, the magic so strong it makes her teeth vibrate and her skin crawl.

She whips around and comes face to face with the woman she swore she would never see again. And as Misty Day looked into the soft, apologetic eyes of Cordelia Goode, she swore all the cicadas stopped singing. Maybe they felt her magic too, or could feel the tension in the air and interpreted it as danger.

Misty can't find it in her to speak, so she looks away to play with a daffodil, rubbing the petals between her fingers. When Cordelia doesn't speak, Misty realizes she's the one that has to initiate the conversation and starts off with, "I thought you were dead."

It hurts to say that, to even think that, but it had been true, hadn't it?? Months ago, Cordelia Goode  _was_  dying, and Misty had thought she was dead.

She couldn't remember if she had a decent nights sleep since she convinced herself that Cordelia was dead, that she ever had a peaceful thought since. She mostly just thinks she went numb, like she did today, zoned in on her garden and her Stevie because then her mind had something to focus on.

"Are you real or are you just a ghost?" she asks quietly, daring to look over at Cordelia again. "Have you come to haunt me?" She'd probably deserve it too after the awful things she had said. She wouldn't blame Satan if he cursed her like this; she deserved it.

Instead of comforting the younger witch, or insisting she's real, all Cordelia does is offer her palm out. "Dance with me?" she offers quietly.

The offer shocks Misty as much as it does her, the swamp witch staring at the Supreme's hand suspiciously.

"Please?"

Misty looks up at Cordelia, looks at her pleading eyes and gives in with a soft nod. She takes off her shawl and places it on the ground, taking cautious steps until her hand envelopes the Supreme's. The skin she's grabbed is warm, firm, pulsing with blood and life.

Misty stares at the older witch as the begin to sway, frowning in concentration as her free hand traces parts of Cordelia she never had before: her eyelids, her nose, the sharp line of her jaw, her chin, her lips. She jerks her hand back with a gentle gasp when warm breath hits the skin of her thumb.

"Is this real?" she asks, voice wavering.

Cordelia bites her lip, nodding gently as her own eyes shine with tears. "It's real. I'm here. I'm alive."

"How? How?" Misty asks quietly, not quite believing what's coming out of the Supreme's mouth. "How?"

"Mallory saved me," Cordelia murmurs vaguely, but Misty accepts it, doesn't press for any more information.

"Why are you here?" the younger blonde asks instead, her other hand finding balance on Cordelia's shoulder as they spin slowly. "You should hate me. I said all those awful things..."

"You were angry at the situation, at yourself, at me for confessing. You were hurt, mad that you didn't do anything sooner."

"I said I'd rather be in hell," Misty reminds her, looking away out of guilt. "I don't know why you're here after I said that. I loved you and I hurt you, and I never wanted to do that."

"I was hurting you," Cordelia murmurs. "I hurt you from the day I announced Mallory was going to perform the Seven Wonders. It's like I was taunting you with my death, holding it above your head any chance I got because I didn't see how much it destroyed you and that wasn't right. We were both idiots."

"Guess we are just a pair of idiots in love," Misty mutters.

"I guess so." Cordelia cautiously links their fingers together, staring at the as she continues. "I never meant to hurt you either, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too," the younger blonde murmurs, staring back the the frog rings on Cordelia's hand, expression soft. "I never meant it. Well, maybe I did, because I think I'd rather be in hell than spend the rest of my life knowing you wouldn't be in it. But it was wrong of me to say it anyway."

"Why do you think I want you back?" Cordelia asks softly. "I can't live back at the academy knowing you're not there with me. I need you in my life, too, Misty."

"How long do I have you for?"

"Forever, if you'll let me."

This does bring a small smile to Misty's lips. "Yeah, I think I could manage that."

As they look back into each other's eyes and start twirling again, the cicadas  break out in their melodic song.

 


End file.
